Rivals
by Lint
Summary: Lee, Kara, and High School Pyramid. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

The locker room is empty. The only sound he can hear in the vast room is the echoing sounds of him tying his shoelaces over and over again. He hates new game shoes. They take forever to break in properly and you want to get at least two practices worth of wear into them before you even think of playing with them in a game.

He's going to kill Zak. Despite their mothers constant warning to keep their hands off of each others things, the youngest Adama boy just had to 'borrow' Lee's favorite pair of game shoes and take them out for a little joyride on his four wheeler just because he thought they were cool. Then he has to go and get the right one caught in the drive chain. When he'd brought them back looking like he'd dropped them into an industrial grinder Lee went ballistic. Didn't Zak know anything about players superstition? Hadn't he learned that being good at anything, especially winning took constant preparation and repetition?

Caroline Adama had been less than thrilled when Lee had showed her the jagged remains of his footwear and told Zak that she wanted every bathroom in the house cleaned by the time she got back from getting Lee a new pair. He couldn't help but smirk at the dejected look on his little brother's face at his punishment.

He undoes the knot again, and moves to retie, his thumbs and fingers getting tired of the same old motion. Sure all Zak had to do was scrub a few toilets, but Lee has to go out into that gymnasium with these stiff uncomfortable clown shoes and try to play the first game of the season feeling very uncomfortable. Not the best way to start a title defense.

Sighing loudly he lets his foot drop from the locker he had it perched against and stands up from the bench throwing his arms side to side, working out the last of his body's stiffness. He hates how nervous he gets before games. How his stomach seems to drop from his mid-section down into his new shoes.

He hears a door open on the other side of the room and can only guess it's one of his teammates sent in here to see what's taking him so long.

"Adama " A strong female voice shouts. "You in here?"

Lee grimaces to himself and quickly puts on his left hand glove. Guess coach decided to come after him herself.

"Yeah coach," he shouts, his voice bouncing off the tile. "Just doing some last minute equipment checks."

"If you want to fiddle with pads so badly Lee," Coach says in a gruff tone. "I could drop you from the team and make you equipment manager."

He slams his locker closed and jogs over to where she's waiting impatiently for him, shrugging in defense of his tardiness. She just shakes her head at him, and swats his back lightly with her play book.

"C'mon kid, we got a game to win."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Lee falls onto his place on the bench, his breath coming in and out in mad gasps. He doesn't know what West Athenian High had done to improve their team so much since last year, but their aren't laying down and taking their beating like they used too.

Coach is screaming about more effort. More sacrifice. The score is a lot closer than she wants it and she wants some frakking goals now.

"We're the Caprican City High Admirals for the gods sake " She yells.

The West Athenian Pirates were push overs last season and she'll be damned if they make fools of them on opening night. He takes long gulps of the boost elixir the teams drinks and waits patiently for his chance to get back in the game.

"Adama," Coach says kneeling down and getting in his face. "I want you on thirteen out there." She twists and points at the kamikaze opposing player who has scored four goals on them already. "Bump her, push her, tackle her, tell her a story for all I care, just don't let her near our goal again you got me?"

"Got it coach," he replies as he hops off the bench and back onto the court.

He runs right up to number thirteen and shadows her behind her left shoulder. Her teammate tosses a pass her way and Lee ducks under her arm and intercepts the ball, pivoting on his right foot to spin back passed her and takes off for their goal. Thirteen doesn't give up so easily and he can feel her catching up to him before he takes a flying leap over another Pirate and slams the ball in the goal.

He's about to raise his arms in celebration when thirteen crashes into him from behind and sends him sprawling to the floor. The ref blows his whistle and Lee knows she's going to get a penalty for hitting him after the play was over. Turning over onto his side he looks up into the face of number thirteen and she's grinning down at him with such confidence on what he thinks is a pretty face, he feels his breath catch.

"Hope you enjoyed that," she says huskily. "It won't happen again."

The ref comes and leads her away to the penalty zone before he can reply, but he can't help but grin. This was going to be a good game after all.

It doesn't happen again. He doesn't score another goal as long as Coach keeps him on this knock around, crazy energetic, number thirteen. After fifteen minutes Lee wants desperately to take another seat on the bench. She doesn't slow down, she doesn't let up, and for the past few plays she has let her hands go places most pyramid players try to avoid contact with during the game. And anytime he's looked at her like she was crazy she would only laugh, try to dance around him, and get the ball.

Two minutes to go and they're still battling back and forth with each other. Lee gets the feeling that her coach had said nothing to her about keeping on his guard the entire game. Her hands kept telling him that the decision is all hers. He gets the ball and is quick to release it to a forward crashing the opposing goal, and it puts them one up on the Pirates. He smirks at number thirteen and she mouths 'frak you' to him in return.

Coach calls a quick time out and he makes his way over to the bench desperate for a drink. He chugs down half a bottle of elixir and pours the rest over his face. The team huddles in a circle around the coach and her clipboard while she discusses the final play she wants executed to keep them ahead. Lee tries to focus on her instructions but he finds himself drifting to thoughts of the girl he'd been sent to guard all game. He turns his head to look over to the opposing bench and sees her looking right back at him.

Coach slaps her clipboard against his chest.

"Pay attention " She shouts.

Lee turns his attention back to the plan, but he already knows his role. Keep thirteen from scoring. He can feel some of the places on his body where her hands had been and realizes most of them are probably going to bruise. Easier said than done.

The huddle breaks up and they move back onto the pitch waiting for the ref to drop the ball. Lee moves into position in front of her. She's smiling at him as if she knows how this is going to play out.

The ref drops the ball and the Pirates win the draw. Lee tries to block her hand when he sees that her teammate has every intention of tossing her the ball. She surprises him when she slips right under his arm and barely catches the ball with the tips of her fingers. Using her momentum from her skid on the court, she bounces up from one knee and tears off toward the goal.

Lee curses under his breath and swiftly follows. The others aren't going to catch up to her, and the rest of the Pirates are doing a good job blocking those who could. He moves faster than he remembers himself being capable of and jumps off his feet, wrapping his arms around her waist and twisting their bodies so that they crashed to the floor in a slide, instead of landing in a painful thud.

He underestimates their momentum and they go crashing into the goalpost with such force they knock it over end and send it skidding into a section of the bleachers. The crowd gasps in shock and all Lee can think of is that, in the movement of the slide, she had somehow ended up completely on top of him.

Her laughter is infectious, and her pure enjoyment of the situation has him sharing in the humor of the moment and matching her smile. She looks down at him and for a second she's sweaty and smelly, and he thinks that he's never seen someone so beautiful. "Are we having fun yet?" She asks, still laughing. 

Her body shifts slightly atop him and her smile is so bright he wants to kiss her.

"What's your name?" He asks instead.

"Kara Thrace," she replies, lifting herself off of him, and offering a hand to help him up. "Remember it. I'm going to be on your ass all season."

He takes her hand and pulls himself up, finding it so easy to match that smile of hers.

He will remember it well.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

He doesn't know what he was thinking when he told Zak and his mother that he would meet them at home. That he'd get a ride with one of the guys because he had to stay after the game and help out the equipment manager because he'd skipped practice one day last week. His mother didn't quite believe him, especially when he was the one who had made the game winning play to keep the Pirates from tying the score and sending them into overtime. She had an uncanny knack for being able to tell when he wasn't being completely honest with her. Still, she had said alright and left him behind.

A few of his fellow students who are still lingering around the gym eye him curiously as he waits outside the visitors locker room. He hopes one of them doesn't get the idea to actually ask him just what it is he's doing because he's not entirely sure what he'll say. All he knows is that he didn't want to leave tonight without seeing her again.

The double doors spring open and the Pirates file out one by one and head toward the bus waiting for them across the street. As soon as he sees her "Hey Kara," comes out of his mouth before he even thinks of it.

The rest of her team regards him with guarded looks but keep moving. Kara however, stops and turns toward him, smiling as if she'd expected this.

"Something you need number seven?" She asks cooly.

A part of him warms at the fact that she took the time in all the madness of the game, she took the time to notice what number he wore.

"Lee," he says. "My name is Lee Adama."

"Nice to meet you Lee," she says, causing something to stir inside him at the way her tongue flicks when she says his name.

"I... Uh..." Damn. He wishes he thought this out better. He always thinks things out down to the last excruciating detail. He's curious to know what it is about this girl that is suddenly making his mind go blank.

Kara smirks, waiting for whatever words that are jumbled up in his head to finally find their way to his mouth. One small concession he can take from his bumbling is that, by the way she keeps smiling at him, she must find it cute somehow. Even if only in a pitying way.

"This weekend," he finally manages to get out. "What are you doing this weekend?"

"You asking me out Lee?"

"Um... yes?"

Oh gods Lee, he thinks. Way to make it sound like a question.

But it only makes her smile grow wider, and he sees the glint of something in her eyes that would scare other guys to death. It intrigues him. 

"I'm going for a run," she replies.

"Want some company?" He says, inwardly cringing that once again, words come out with no thought behind them.

"I go for five clicks," she says in a low voice, taking a step toward him. "You know what a click is?" 

He nods.

"Think you can handle it?"

She takes another step closer and he can feel what little brain function he actually has in her presence melt away in such close proximity.

"What am I saying?" She goes on, looking him up and down like a predator. He's never felt so much like prey. "Look at those legs on you."

He looks down and his own limbs, swallowing audibly and making her giggle.

"You could keep up with me couldn't you?"

He can only nod dumbly. This girl, man was she something.

"You're lucky you're so pretty," she says running a finger across his chest. "This stunned silence could be such a turn off."

"Hey Thrace " One of her teammates calls from a window on the bus. "Quit fraternizing with the enemy and get your ass moving "

Kara waves a hand dismissively behind her, her middle finger gesturing to them to have some frakking patience, and moves in as close as she had been when they were laid out on the court together. She grabs a pen from her pocket and takes his hand, scribbling some numbers into the palm.

"Keep up with me," she says looking into his eyes and daring him not to.

She doesn't wait for him to respond and turns away to head for the bus. He waits until he sees her get on, and the bus pulls away, to finally look at the ink scrawled across his skin.

"That went well," he says to himself.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

When he calls her the first thing she asks is what took him so long. He laughs and that little ice breaker is what finally lulls him into a sense of verbal comfort with her. That and merely hearing her voice carried over a phone line rather than delivered from lips he can't get his mind off of, also helps ease the overaction of his mind when it comes to her. He can actually participate in conversation.

They make plans to meet on the hikers trail in Spartan forest and that's where Lee finds himself waiting with boost elixir in hand, nervously shifting back and forth in his jogging shoes.

What if she doesn't show? He thinks. What if her flirting and touching was all part of some elaborate plan to distract him, so that West Athenian could finally win the championship this year? What if she just took pity on his bumbling, but wasn't really interested in a guy who can't form a coherent sentence around her.

He shakes his head as if the motion will drive all the self doubt from his mind. He has to watch himself. He's starting to think like Zak.

All his insecurities wash away when he sees her making her way up to the trail. He feels his jaw drop open the slightest bit as she comes into view wearing incredibly short shorts and military style double tanks. Her skin looks nothing short of silken divinity and he wonders how it would feel under his lips.

With that thought knocking his mind into the x-rated zone, he takes a quick seat on the bench. There's no need to embarrass himself before he ever even tries to talk. She smiles as she steps up to him and he wordlessly hands her the bottle of elixir he'd brought for her.

"Aren't you thoughtful?" She teases, her voice like honey.

"Always come prepared," he says lightly. "I don't think there are any drinking fountains five clicks in."

"Were you a colonial scout as a kid or something?" She asks. "Oh gods you were " She exclaims when he doesn't answer. "That's so cute."

He looks at her incredulously.

"No really," she insists.

He laughs lightly and thinks it alright to get up from the bench.

"You need to stretch out a little, or are you already prepared?" She teases.

He doesn't answer, merely smirks at her and takes off down the trail, leaving her shouting 'hey ' behind him. She catches up quickly, which doesn't surprise him. What does is the fact that she doesn't slow her sprint. It's not hard for him to keep up, but after a couple hundred meters he feels the burn begin to form in his lungs and legs and he realizes that she isn't remotely thinking of pacing herself. She plans on going five clicks full taught.

The possibility of putting his body through such rigorous conditioning during the season is one he's never considered, but thinks that with his lack of social communication in her presence, he's glad the exertion means no talking.

Another few minutes and he thinks that he might just have to drop from exhaustion, not caring if a sudden collapse would hamper her opinion of him.

Finally her strides start to fade, and her feverish pace lets up a little. He has the chance to look over to her and sees powerful arms and legs still pumping with effort. Sees the slightest sheen of sweat that somehow makes her body glow. He moves his eyes forward to the trail, knowing that if he let this train of thought keep rolling, his body will give out completely.

She slows to a jog and he silently thanks the gods that her tank had finally run empty. Stopping to lean against a tree she bends over, catching her breath in deep gulps of air, and it takes all he has left in him not to fall at her feet. He quickly rips the cap off of the elixir and chugs most of it down.

When he finally catches his breath he looks over to her to see that she's looking right back, that glint of something dangerous back in her eyes, and before he knows it she's kissing him.

He thought about this so much in what little time he's known of her existence. But the reality, the feel of her lips and her skin pressed against him far exceeds anything his imagination could have come up with.

She breaks off the kiss and he finds himself fight for breath all over again.

"You kept up," she says. "Impressive."

Then she gives him that smile, and he knows she's going to be the death of him.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

They casually walk along the trail, making their way back to the start, slowly asking typical getting to know you questions. She tells him that she was born on Caprica, but had done short stints of time on most of the other colonies. Her mother used to be a marine and had a bad habit of getting reassigned a lot. He tells her he'd lived on Caprica most of his life, and that he understands how it is to have a parent in the military, but his Dad made sure he and his brother stayed put through all his reassignments.

She asks about his brother and all he can say is "you'd have to meet him." Zak operated on his own level and Lee never could quite define him. He asks about her family and she tells him that it's just her and her mom. Something about the way she cuts off the sentence tells him that's all he's going to get from her in that regard so he lets it go.

Eventually the conversation falls onto the one thing they know they have in common. Pyramid. Kara, admittedly, is a die hard C-Bucs fan even though they are really pissing her off with all the cellar dwelling they've been doing lately.

Lee hesitates to admit he's more of a Picon Panthers fan.

"But you're from Caprica!" She shouts as she punches him in the arm.

He rubs the spot of contact and shies a foot or so away from her, smiling that they're getting along so well.

What kills the casualness of the conversation is when he tells her she can blame his father for being a Panther fan and she jokingly threatens to set him straight should she ever meet him. Lee stops dead and tells her in a clipped tone that it probably won't happen because it's been years since he's seen his father, and that liking the Panthers is one of the few things Lee can't find a reason to hate him for.

His face flushes when he looks over to her, and curses himself or letting so personal slip out so soon. For letting it slip so easily. His mother had always been concerned with him because he always wanted to be the one in control. Zak was left to run wild and be as free as he wanted to because level headed Lee would always be behind him to take care of whatever mess presented itself. He wants to know what it is about this girl that simple conversation just turned into something far beyond casual.

He thinks she's going to walk away from him now. The look on her face is one he can't read. He thinks that he might have just blown the chance at something special. Turning away he stares off at a tree waiting for the goodbye he just knows is about to come.

Instead he feels her hand on his shoulder and he turns back to her, and her eyes, the things he sees in them gives her away. She knows exactly how he feels because she's felt it too. He starts to ask but all of a sudden they're kissing again.

The rational part of Lee's mind is telling that they are moving entirely too fast. They've only just met. Her barely knows her. That they are different sides of the spectrum in so many ways. They live on opposite sides of the city. They are on opposing pyramid teams. And lords knows how many other things he hasn't found out about yet.

Her arms wrap around his neck and he feels all logic and reason fade away.

He knows he can do without them when he's with her. 


	2. Chapter 2

The first person that tries to pop the bubble of happiness surrounding him since he met Kara is Jared Hasek, the captain of the team.

Lee sits in front of his locker checking over his pads and running plays through his mind when his teammate takes a seat next to him on the bench. He watches the captain out of the corner of his eye doubting that Jared singled him out for some kind of pep talk. Especially when the coach had already done so a few minutes earlier.

He has a good idea what Mr. Captain has to say. He's been seeing Kara for over a month now and the whole team knows it. They didn't want it to be an issue, or attempt to hide it like star crossed lovers in some Kataris poem.

They'd been spotted in various encounters throughout the city. A teammate catching them at a movie together. A friend of a friend seeing them at a diner somewhere. A fellow student taking a hike and witnessing them on a run. Half of her team wandering onto the court when they were playing a little one on one at Centennial Park.

No one has said a word to him because up until now, the Admirals have remained a perfect 5-0 on the season, and the only team to come close to beating them was the Pirates. Lee knows Jared is sitting next to him waiting to for his opening because in a few minutes their first rematch with West Athenian is set to begin. He's waiting to question Lee's loyalty now that he has a girlfriend on the other side of the court who's a viable threat to their undefeated streak.

Lee can't help but feel insulted at this. The team he's played his heart out for suddenly doubting him.

"I know what you're going to say," Lee says jumping the gun. "Because I know everyone has been thinking it since they found out I'm dating Kara Thrace."

"What question would that be?" Jared asks, feigning ignorance. 

"Am I going to be on my game?"

"Are you?"

Lee turns to his teammate, making his face a blank slate.

"I know what's at stake here. I know coach and the guys, frak the whole school, wants a flawless season and another title. I know it's my job to make that happen. So don't think for one second that I'm not going to do my job."

He gets up from the bench before Jared has the chance to say anything in rebuttal.

Stepping out onto the court the roar of the crowd causes the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. He looks around at all the faces, all the locals waving Caprica City High colors proudly. He thinks that there are nearly twice as many people here compared to opening night, and that is probably due to the local papers hyping up a newfound rivalry between the two best teams in the inter city prep league.

He finds his mother in the crowd and smiles when he sees her waving a miniature flag back and forth.

The team gathers into the pre game huddle and coach tells Lee that he's to guard number thirteen once again. An assignment that causes a few glances in his direction from most of the team. It's as if they don't know him at all.

The teams line up on the court and Lee takes his place in front of Kara who's smirking at him like she can't wait for the whistle to blow and the ball to drop. Like she's going to eat him alive. He smirks right back at her.

The ref drops the ball and Lee smashes right into her, knocking her flat on her ass and calling for the ball, easily tapping it into the goal. He lifts his arms in celebration and turns to face his bench and all his teammates, pointing a finger and challenging them to ever question his integrity again.

Making his way back to the line, he takes his spot in front of Kara who's rubbing the spot where she landed.

"I'm glad you did it first," she says with a small laugh. "Because I sure as hell wasn't going to be pulling any punches."

The ref drops the ball again and the next thing he knows, he's on his ass staring up at the lights hearing the sound of the ball getting knocked in to his own goal. Rolling to his side, then moving to a kneel he sees Kara do practically the same thing to her team. He laughs and thinks that questioned loyalties must be the topic of the day.

The rest of the half is harder fought and more exhausting than the first game they played against each other. Lee and Kara meet at the line time and time again. Bodies slamming into one another, hands lingering a bit longer than a play or a block actually call for. On more than one occasion after a fierce tackle, where they're sprawled over one another, he has to stop himself from kissing her.

Kara doesn't help matters any further by threatening to frak him senseless come halftime, if he keeps up all this teasing and foreplay.

The second half isn't so eventful. Lee gets benched because coach doesn't like the way he's not saving any energy out there. She doesn't want him to collapse and die on her pyramid court. He looks across at the Pirates bench and sees that Kara's coach must be thinking the same thing because there she sits staring back at him.

He gets called back into play with only a few minutes left but he isn't told to be on Kara's guard. He's all the way on the other side of the court blocking a player who's never in position to score and feels useless for the remaining time counting down on the clock. He can't stand having to watch his team drop one to the Pirates, on Kara's run of three goals in two minutes because he wasn't there up close to stop her.

So much for being undefeated.

Coach doesn't give him a reason why she never let him get back into a position he had thought he made quite the effort into preventing her from scoring. After the disappointed home crowd files out of the gym, after showering and getting back into his street clothes, he finds her and asks.

"I've no doubt you played all out for me tonight Adama," she says. "But whatever else you were doing with that girl out there doesn't belong on my court you get me?"

He isn't sure how to take that. Despite his obvious flare for playing with and against Kara, one thing he is sure of is that the game would have definitely gone a different way had he been on her guard all night.

One small consolation is that while he was getting dressed most of the guys had told him they thought so as well.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The second person, albeit inadvertently and not even seriously, to try and pop the bubble of happiness since he met Kara, is Zak.

Lee had been trying for weeks to get Kara to come to his house and meet his mom and brother. And after scoring tickets for the Buccaneers versus the Panthers, he finally convinced her that it was an occasion worth introducing her to his family.

He waits in the foyer of the house pacing back and forth, the strange knot in his stomach twisting and turning all the while.

He'd brought girls over to meet the family before and it had never been a big deal. Though if he wants to be honest with himself he can't recall wanting his mom and brother to like a girl as much as he wants them to like Kara.

When she knocks on the door he's there to open it so fast she doesn't even finish the second knock. She stands there with her hand still poised and playfully continues the motion on his chest.

"You planned that didn't you?" She asks with a grin.

He takes a second to look her over, wondering to himself how she can make casual look so good. She's wearing a pair of old beat up blue jeans and a tight jacket that perfectly outlines her body. He smiles to himself when he sees the C-Bucs patch proudly displayed on one of the sleeves. Her hair is pulled back into a ponytail with a few stray stands falling onto her forehead and he can't help but raise a hand to her face and brush them away.

Pulling her into a quick kiss he whispers in her ear, "Why do you have to be so frakking cute?"

That earns him a kiss in return and the only thing that stops them from letting it linger is the sound of Caroline Adama politely clearing her throat. Lee turns his head sheepishly to his mother while Kara whispers, "Not the best way to make a first impression."

They break from their embrace and Lee gently nudges Kara to stand in front of his mother.

"Mom," Lee says a small hint of pride in his voice, "this is Kara Thrace."

"Nice to finally meet you," Caroline says with a warm smile. "I have to admit I was curious about the girl my boy has been raving about."

Kara smile back politely and glances over her shoulder at Lee.

"Raving?" She mouths questioningly.

He shrugs in response letting the sight of this encounter sink in. Part of him can't believe he's watching his foul mouthed, take crap from no one, punch you rather than talk to you, girlfriend being so well mannered with his mother.

Wondering where Zak is he moves to the foot of the stairs and calls his name. It takes a minute for the younger Adama boy to begrudgingly appear.

"What?" He asks.

"Don't what me," Lee says. "I told you earlier that Kara was coming over tonight. So get down here and make nice."

Zak rolls his eyes and mutters 'fine' under his breath before shuffling down the stairs. "Kara," Lee says grabbing her attention. "This is my little brother Zak."

Zak mutters something else under his breath at Lee making sure to emphasize the word little. However when Kara turns to face the younger boy and offer her hand, his whole demeanor seems to change. Lee laughs softly as he notices that his brother's jaw drops the slightest bit and his hand suddenly becomes limp in hers.

"You're really pretty," Zak says bluntly, causing the three of them to laugh.

Kara smirks at him and knocks him lightly on the shoulder with a fist.

"You aren't so bad yourself kid," she says. "There's something about you Adama boys isn't there?"

"Don't call me kid," Zak says, his grip becoming firmer. "I'm only two years younger than Lee."

"Sorry Zak," she says. "My mistake."

"The only mistake I see here is you dating the wrong one of us," Zak tosses back.

Kara's eyes shoot to Lee as if she can't believe the mouth on him, and Lee himself is a bit surprised. But then Zak laughs and tells Kara it was good to meet her before making his way back up the stairs and out of the room.

Lee tells his mother that if they want to get a decent parking spot at the arena they have to go, and she exchanges pleasantries with Kara one more time before heading into the living room.

"I think your brother has a crush on me," Kara teases as they make their way out the front door.

Lee grabs her hand and pulls her to him, crushing a kiss to her lips. Zak's little comment had bothered him more than it should of and he feels foolish for letting it do so. Kara breaks the kiss and laughs lightly.

"Relax Lee," she says. "It's not like I'm going to marry him."

"That's not even funny," he replies with a smile.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The third person that tries to pop the bubble of happiness surrounding him since he met Kara is not even a person at all. But the Professional Pyramid Organization is a group of people tossing offers to her to go pro straight out of high school. The second she tells him that a countdown clock of his time left with her appears in his head. He can't imagine winning a competition for her attention with all the pressures and obligations of a pro pyramid player.

They're sitting in their seats at the Buccaneers arena sharing a basket of fries and drinking oasis ale that Kara had managed to get them with a fake ID he didn't know she had. 

"I'd kill to be out there right now," she says taking a sip and nodding her head toward the court. "Then maybe the Bucs would win every now and again."

Lee has no doubt about her claim. When he wasn't playing against her himself, and when his attention wasn't steered toward his own team, he was watching her play. And when he watched it wasn't hard to see why so many scouts were jumping all over her.

Her stats alone are staggering. Twenty-six goals in eight games, averaging ten blocks a game, and her tackles are way above par. What she can do with a rebound has been compared to many a pro player. Lee knows she could easily step out on that court and show them all how it's supposed to be done.

"What about you Adama?" She asks. "Any offers? Because I've seen you play, and if you can keep up with me I'd say you got a shot at the pros too."

Lee raises his eyebrows and laughs lightly at her smoldering confidence. He sips his ale and looks down at the cheerleaders providing the halftime entertainment.

"I've got a few," he says. "Not the pro's though." He looks back to her. "We can't all be phenoms. But some b-league teams have talked to my coach. The rest are all universities."

"Any place worth considering?" She asks.

"Picon," Lee says without thinking.

"What is it about Picon that's got you so frakking hooked?" she chides playfully.

"It's a good school," he replies with a shrug.

What he doesn't say is that he wasn't talking about Picon University. More and more he's been thinking about the flight academy at fleet headquarters. About giving up pyramid and trying his hand at something he's been dreaming about doing since he was a little boy, despite the fact that it's the service that essentially drove his father away.

He looks at Kara and wonders if, with her love of the game, she'd ever understand that he'd be so willing to give it up.

"What does your mother think of all these offers?" He asks.

Kara's face drops and Lee's knows he has just made a mistake in asking.

"She thinks pyramid is a waste of time," Kara says quietly before downing the rest of her ale.

"Does she have any idea how good you are?" "She doesn't care. She says that I'm special. That I have a destiny. That I'm meant for so much more than a silly little game."

She sounds so disappointed at her words.

"Well she's right about one thing," he says taking her hand and squeezing gently.

Kara looks at him curiously.

"You are special."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The person that does pop the bubble of happiness surrounding him since he met Kara is Kara herself.

He gets a call at two in the morning and nearly knocks the phone off of his night stand trying to grab for it.

"Hello?" he mumbles sleepily into the receiver. "Hello?" He asks again when he hears nothing but silence on the other end. He's about to hang up when he hears his name come softly out of the ear piece.

"Kara?" he asks. "Is that you?"

"Lee," she says again, along with some other mumbles he struggles to hear. "I'm... Gods I'm so..."

He can tell she's drunk by her slightly slurred words and that shakes the sleep right out of him.

"Kara what's wrong?" he asks, the concern in his voice evident.

"Everything's so messed up."

"Where are you?"

She doesn't answer.

"I'm coming over," he says, shifting out of his bed and moving toward his dresser for some clothes.

"No don't," she says but he chooses to ignore her and hangs up the phone.

He quickly gets dressed and runs down into the kitchen for his mother's car keys and makes his way out the door as quietly as he can.

When he pulls up to Kara's apartment building he parks in the first space he finds ignoring the reserved status painted on the ground. He runs into the building glad that the locks have been broken for quite sometime, and tears up the stairwell. When he arrives at her door he finds it open.

Taking a cautious step inside, he doesn't know if Socrata is here or not, but if she is she's not the type of mother to allow a male visitor at such a late hour. He listens for her but can't hear anything other than sad piano music floating throughout the house.

"Kara?" He calls out to no answer.

He finds her in her room standing in front of a large painting on her wall. He's not sure what it is exactly. A giant blue circle, complimented with a smaller circle of orange in the center and a yellow ring around the outside of it. His brow creases slightly, the one time he was ever here he'd only been in the kitchen. She'd never shown him her room, or mentioned that she liked to paint.

"Kara?" He asks softly.

"I told her," she answers before taking a swig off a half empty bottle of ambrosia. "I told her that I didn't care if I was special. I told her I didn't care about my supposed destiny. I told her I was going pro and that I didn't give a frak what she says."

Lee's heart aches at the sight of her so sad. So broken. He reaches for her but she shies away and takes another swig off the bottle.

"What happened?" he asks.

She turns to face him finally and his body goes rigid at the sight of the black eye. He moves wordlessly to her and this time she doesn't move away. He runs a finger along the bruised skin causing her to flinch a little.

"She did this?" He asks in a whisper.

"She's done worse," Kara says, and Lee doesn't ask her to emphasize because he really doesn't want to know the horrible details of the statement. "You should see what I did to her this time. She won't be back for awhile."

"What can I do Kara?" He asks. "To fix this?"

She looks into his eyes with such raw emotion; he instinctually steps back, unsure how to respond.

"Do you love me?" She asks.

The question stuns him, and before he can think of how to reply, she's pushing him back onto her bed and straddling his waist, kissing him with such ferocity that there is no joy in the intimate contact.

"I know you do," she says breaking the kiss. "I know you love me Lee so just say it."

He looks up at her seeing so much pain in her eyes his feels his own heart break along with hers, and knows he is helpless to do anything about it.

"Say it."

"I do Kara," he says firmly.

"You can't take it back," she says as she starts to unbutton his pants. "There's no take backs." 

He's quick to grab her wrists to stop her. "Don't."

"But you just said that you..."

"I know," he interrupts. "And you're right." He swallows loudly knowing that the next words to come out of his mouth are true, and have been since the day he set eyes on her. "I love you Kara," he says firmly. "And that's why we're not going to do what you want us to do. Not now. Not like this."

The tears fall down her cheeks and he's quick to wipe them away, she smiles sadly and collapses onto his chest resting her head against his shoulder.

"Don't leave," she mumbles into him. "Everyone who loves me leaves."

He lifts a hand to gently stroke her hair. "I'm not going anywhere," he promises.

He closes his eyes and really hears the music he'd noticed when he first walked in. The slow and majestic piano carrying its sad song throughout the room and fitting the mood of the situation perfectly.

"Who is this playing?" He asks.

"My dad," she replies sleepily.

"He's good."

She doesn't respond and he gets the feeling that she's fallen asleep on top of him. He slides upward a little so the weight of her won't restrict his own breathing, and continues to stroke her hair as her chest rises and falls against him.

"I love you Kara," he says again, closing his own eyes and letting the sleepiness reclaim him.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

When his eyes open to the dim sunlight creeping through parted curtains Kara is gone. He shifts to his side and leans on his elbow, yawning and gathering his bearings. Kara's room is a mess of scattered clothes, food boxes, and countless canvases covered with paint in intricate designs. Kicking his feet over the edge of the bed he shifts to sit up and really take in all the artwork he hadn't had a chance to look at the night before.

Part of him wonders why she never mentioned this passion before. He won't call it a hobby because the work is too prolific. Getting up from the bed he flips through a few of the paintings and is impressed. She has so much more talent than pyramid alone.

He finds her in the kitchen sitting at the table and staring out the window.

"How are you feeling?" He asks to no reply.

He takes a seat next to her wanting to ask more about the paintings, but she shifts slightly away from him. His brow creases in concern and he reaches for her hand only to have her pull back.

"Kara?"

"You should go," she says not looking at him.

He's stunned by the statement, she who only hours ago had begged him not to leave.

"What?" Is all he can find to say.

"Don't make me repeat myself."

"Listen," he starts. "About last night."

"I was drunk," she says dismissively.

"Oh," he replies suddenly getting it. She wants to pretend it didn't happen. That she never broke down in front of him and that he never declared his love for her. It cuts deeply this little revelation, and he tries his best not to let it show.

"Kara," he says softly.

"What did you think would happen?" She says coldly, finally turning her head to him. "That we'd fall in love? That we'd get married and have a couple of kids and live happily frakking after?"

Lee feels his blood begin to turn cold. "Why are you doing what I think you're doing?" He asks.

"Because I'm a screw up Lee," she says, her eyes glaring into him and giving nothing. "It's about time you learned that." 


	3. Chapter 3

It's been a month since he's seen her. 

A month since he held her while she poured her broken heart out to him.

A month since he said 'I love you' and meant it.

The pyramid ball bounces off one of the partitions and he grabs the rebound and tosses it effortlessly into the goal. Letting out a tired breath he makes his way toward the bench to grab a towel to wipe the sweat from his eyes. Taking a long drink of boost elixir he works out a kink in his neck before dropping the towel back onto the bench.

Practice had ended over an hour ago but he told coach that he wasn't tired and wanted to keep going. She was going to argue with him, but she must have seen something in his eyes that told her saying no wasn't an option. There's too much aggression inside of him and he knows it. He needs to work it out before he loses his precious control and hurts someone.

Grabbing the ball from the goal he moves back to the middle of the court and takes a ready position. He counts down from five in his head then steps off his right foot and fakes left with the ball, before shifting his weight back to the right to spin out of the grasp of a would be opponent and bouncing the ball off of a partition.

Once the rebound bounces back his way he jumps for the ball with an outstretched arm, catching it in mid air, then twisting his body and firing it toward the goal. He lands on the pitch in a hard skid, the air getting knocked from his lungs with more force than he estimated. His eyes pinch shit once the momentum dies and he grabs his side gasping for air.

Once the pain fades away he lifts his head in the direction of the goal to see the ball rolling along the floor. He stares at it blankly. He missed again.

"Gods damn it Lee," he chides himself moving to rest on his knees.

Kara had showed him this maneuver the last time they practiced with each other and he hasn't gotten it right since.

The championship game is in two days and the gods must find some sort of amusement in torturing his already broken heart because Caprica City High and West Athenian have finished the season with identical records. The papers have been calling it the most anticipated match of the decade. The two schools having fought so fiercely all season long, and having one last bout for the title.

A part of him hates the fact that the first time he's going to see her again is somewhat forced.

He'd tried calling her. He'd tried running into her at some of their old haunts. He even showed up at her door one day only to keep knocking with no answer.

He gets back up to his feet and moves over to the bench again, his body finally calling for a break after so many hours of non stop punishment.

All his practice, all his moves and effort out there today, it was her he was playing against. It was her telling him he wasn't good enough. It was her telling him to push himself to be better.

He thinks of Kataris and star crossed lovers and laughs bitterly to himself. What they had initially fought against in beginning of their relationship is exactly what they ended up being.

Still, part of him he misses her so much that the anger at what she'd done is easily overridden.

He's so lost in his own thought that he doesn't notice when his brother enters the gym and walks up next him. He doesn't notice when he takes a seat and follows his gaze out onto the court. It takes Zak bumping Lee's shoulder with his own to get the elder Adama to see that he's no longer alone.

"What's going on Zak?" He asks.

"I don't know how to say this," Zak says.

"Whatever it is just say it," Lee sighs.

"It's about Kara."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Lee never could stand the smell of hospitals. There was always something in the air that made them seem so damn sterile, and something the struck him as unnatural for a place that could be so clean. His shoes squeak against reflective tile and he thinks of the first time he ever had to visit the emergency room.

He was chasing Zak around the backyard for a reason he can't remember, and somehow his little brother had managed to squeeze himself through a hole in the fence. Lee went running full stride after him and the next thing he knew he was in the backseat of his mother's car on their way to the hospital.

Turned out that the hole in the fence wasn't big enough to get through as fast as he was going and he'd ended up with a gash on his forehead and a mild concussion. He absently touches the spot where the stitches had been all those years ago. He remembers the smell making him woozy back then and all the adults said it was the blood loss.

The elevator waits in front of him and he's hesitant to press the button to call it. He's still not sure coming here was the best idea. When Zak had told him what happened it almost felt like it happened to him as well, the concern for her flooding his every thought. But with Kara not physically around, not affecting his emotions the way she did, his rationality quickly overtook it. He didn't think she would want to see him. Not after everything that had happened.

Zak had rolled his eyes at Lee and called him a frakking idiot for being so stubborn. Then really hit below the belt and compared that stubbornness to their fathers. It took Zak of all people to make Lee realize that he was being stupid. That no matter what happened between them; she made him the happiest Zak had ever seen. And if seeing her just once more, should it turn out to be only once, he would have known he'd done all he could.

Lee shakes his head at the thought of his younger brother's advice making so much sense. When he told Zak so, all he said in return was that it seemed like one of them was always thinking clearly. This time it was just Zak's turn.

He presses the button and silently asks the gods that this impromptu visit not blow up in his face.

When he finds her room and walks through the door he is stuck for a second. All the beds inside have the privacy curtains drawn around them. He doesn't want some awkward encounter with a kidney transplant patient or someone waiting to get their tonsils removed.

There's a soft sigh from the bed closest to the window and he recognizes it instantly. He can hear his heartbeat in his ears as he moves quickly and pulls back the curtain, feeling it drop just by setting eyes on her. Just looking at her sends his mind into a whirlwind of emotion and he clenches his fists to try and hold them at bay.

If they take over he will stop caring that they're not together anymore. He will forget that she made it quite clear she never wanted to see him again. If he lets his emotions take over like they always do when he's near her he will throw himself on the bed and cover her face with little kisses, willing her pain to be his own, and fight like hell to take it away.

He lets out a shaky breath. Seeing her again, like this, is a lot harder than he expected it to be. She lay on the bed above the covers, her leg cautiously propped up on pillows and wrapped in a clear thermal cast. Her eyes are closed with her head slightly tilted to the right and he thinks she's asleep, but she sighs again and says "I told the last frakking reporter I was done giving interviews."

Lee smiles to himself that even when she's vulnerable and laid out in a hospital, the attitude is still in force. There are several ways he wants to reply to the threat, some simple smart ass remark, or perhaps even pretending to be a reporter.

In the end all he gives is a simple "hey."

Her eyes snap open at the sound of his voice, and for a second she only stares out the window, before slowly letting her gaze fall on him. The look he gets from her makes his heart beat a little faster because the last time she looked at him, all he saw was nothing. This time, before she could hide it, he sees that she is genuinely glad to see him. "Hey," she says back.

The silence is heavy between them and Lee makes a move to the chair next to the bed and she doesn't protest, so he sits and takes a closer look at her leg. He can't see what the damage is exactly, the plastic is distorting any clear view of the skin, and he doesn't know anything about medicine to be able to take a guess.

"Guess I won't be going for five clicks anytime soon," she says wryly.

He looks back to her, sees the smirk on her face, and laughs even though it isn't funny.

"You don't have to do that," he says.

"Do what?"

"Be brave for me," he says softly.

The anger is quick, her eyes flash with it, but he's not sorry with what he said. Her hands grip at the blanket atop the bed and he thinks that she just might tear through it. She's going to yell. Maybe even tell him to go frak himself. He doesn't let the threat faze him now. He's already here. That hurtle has been leapt.

"I know this is killing you."

The anger is gone as quick as it came because she can see he isn't going to back down from her now. Her lip quivers the slightest bit as her eyes go glossy and he knows that struck a chord deep inside. A single tear runs down her cheek and she's quick to wipe it away.

"I didn't think I would see you here," she says once her emotions appear to be in check.

"I didn't think you'd want me here," he replies.

She doesn't say yes, which is a small relief, but she doesn't say no either. Instead she just looks at him, and there is something in those eyes of hers, and for now he takes that for whatever it means.

"How did you find out?" She asks.

"Zak told me."

The confusion is clear on her face, and Lee knows how she feels. Zak is the last person either of them thought would be the one to bring this situation to light.

"His best friend goes to Oracle Tech," Lee fills in. "He was at the game."

"Oh."

"What happened Kara?"

"You said that Zak..."

"I want to hear it from you."

She thinks about not telling him. She thinks about asking him to leave. He can see it. He can also see that she's scared. Scared of being honest with him again. Scared of letting him in anymore than she had before. Lee doesn't know how he can see all things in her, and he knows that she can see this knowledge in him. He thinks that scares her more than anything else.

"I was showing off," she says quietly. "Oracle Tech is full of geeks and future deck hands and their pyramid team is a joke."

Lee nods. Oracle Tech hasn't had a winning season in more than six years.

"I just kept scoring," she continues. "And it was so frakking easy. They have no defense. They have no offense. We were just making them look so bad and I made sure to let them know it."

She pauses briefly, closing her eyes as if she's reliving the moment all over again. Lee wants to take her hand but decides against it, thinking that there is boundaries between them now, and he doesn't want her to freeze up on him by crossing them.

"In the second half the hitting started. Nothing big at first, but I was their prime target you know? Go after the one with the mouth."

How true, Lee thinks.

"I didn't let it stop me," Kara goes on. "They more they tried to knock me down the more I made them pay for it until I guess they had enough."

The tears well up in her eyes and Lee wants to do anything to keep them from falling.

"He waited for the ball to drop, the stupid frakker, and then he crossed the line like was some kind of centurion, and went right after me. I didn't even see it coming..."

He moves to take her hand and she lets him.

"Stupid frakker," she says again, the tears no longer able to be held back. "Takes away my shot because he couldn't handle being on a shit team. Because he couldn't handle a little... Gods damn it I was going to get away from her! I had a real chance and now..."

He moves up from the chair and embraces her as best as he can in her awkward position and she cries into his shoulder. He tries his best to give her the comfort she need being cautious all the while, thinking about the last time he'd offered such understanding. When the tears run out he doesn't want to be sent away. When she finally calms he moves to pull back, but her arms hold on and she doesn't let him go.

"Lee?" She asks softly.

"You're a screw up," he says echoing her words. "I get it."

Her laugh is hollow.

"And if this screw up says she's really sorry?"

He doesn't reply to that, only holds her tight and wills her demons fall away while he's so close.

"I missed you," she whispers.

"I missed you too."

He swears he can feel her smile against him.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Lee has never felt so in control on a pyramid court. Every pass is caught. Every rebound is capitalized upon. Every block, every tackle, and every goal is golden.

The championship game for the inter city prep league is played in Caprica City Arena, home of the Buccaneers, and it is jammed to capacity. He can't hear the crowd behind him, and at a massive thirty-five thousand people, even he regards that as strange.

The teams line up, and the Pirates only have one man covering Lee, so at every opportunity he is making them pay for underestimating him. In the beginning of the season no one on the Admirals could quite figure out just what the Pirates had done to reverse their fortune so drastically. Now that Kara is gone and they are playing like they'd only touched a ball for the first time today Lee knows exactly how it happened. Sometimes all it takes is one person to make a difference.

The ref drops the ball and Lee fakes to his left, then shifts to his right and spins around his opponent calling for the ball. Jared Hasek whips the ball toward a partition and Lee catches it on the bounce, turning in fluid motion with his eyes on the goal. This time there are two Pirates blocking his way and they are too big for him to swiftly shift around.

One of them tries a tackle and he dodges deftly, lobbing the ball back to Jared who strides past the remaining defender and easily taps in the goal.

The Caprica City fans leap to their feet, the collective roar between them becomes almost deafening. Lee and Jared both get called off the court and the captain is all smiles.

"What has gotten into you?" he asks. Lee's hand instantly reaches for the two medallions hidden under his jersey. The one's that Kara had given to him for luck, saying that he was going to need it as hard as she planned to root against him. Two shiny silver circles imprinted with the visage of Artemis and Aphrodite. He had looked at her questioningly as she handed them over to him. He had no idea she believed so strongly in the gods.

"I'm just having a good day," Lee replies.

Coach is happy. They are crushing the Pirates 13-3, and she doesn't want to any alterations in their momentum. Keep driving, keep scoring, and keep hitting. They will do what they've set out all season to do.

Lee takes a long drink of elixir and eagerly awaits his chance to get back on the court. He is so full of energy he finds it hard to sit still. It's the excitement true, the amazing atmosphere, and the sheer will to win contributing to all this success.

He rubs the spot where the medallions fall against his chest and knows his good day is a result of far more than the game.

The Admirals keep up their constant barrage and the Pirates are helpless to stop it. Lee can't help but think that the Pirates heart simply was not in the game because their star player had been taken down. Their fire and drive lost without her.

Minutes to go and the crowd is in a frenzy. Lee lines up for the final play and when the ref drops the ball he smashes through the last of the Pirates defense, passing to one of his teammates who knocks in the last goal.

The horn sounds.

Final score Admirals: 19, Pirates: 8.

Confetti falls onto the court and the Admirals are all smiles and cheers, everyone slapping each other on the back for a job well done. The team circles around the trophy when it is wheeled out to the presentation table, and the crowd roars again when Jared lifts it above his head. For the first time in ten years there is a repeat champion in the inter city prep league.

Lee accepts his teammate's congratulations as the principle of the school hands him the trophy for the game's most valuable player. He sees Zak and his mother in the crowd and point the trophy in their direction. Lee laughs at his mother clapping harder than anyone. Coach yells in his ear that scouts across the colonies will be knocking down her door with offers after tonight.

Once he gets his championship medal, Lee shrinks into the background the frenzy, sneaking back toward the locker room to shower and escape before party finds him again.

There's only one person he wants to celebrate with.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

When he walks into her room she is sitting upright in her hospital bed playing singular with a deck of triad cards. She starts clapping with semi-mocking glee when she looks up and notices him come in.

"Lee Adama you magnificent bastard," she teases. "That was one hell of a pyramid game if I do say so myself."

"Well thank you," he replies with a laugh as he takes a seat in the chair next to the bed. "How did you hear about it already?"

"I listened to the game on the wireless," she says. "You do realize I'm inclined to hate you forever for humbling my team so badly. I still would have gotten a medal even if I didn't play in the final game. That would have been a nice souvenir."

Lee reaches into his pocket for the medal they had given him and gets up moving closer to Kara.

"This should be yours," he says placing it around her neck. "Meeting you has done a lot for me this season. I know I couldn't have played as hard as I did without you."

Kara looks touched as he moves to sit back in the chair but he's just waiting for the smartass remark to come flying out of her mouth.

"I can't take this Lee," she says instead.

"It's yours," he replies in an assuring tone. "I know if you were playing today I probably wouldn't have won it all."

He watches as she rubs her thumb over the phoenix of the colonies that is engraved into the medal, over the words that read 'Caprica City Champions.'

"You're damn right you wouldn't have," she says as she looks back up at him, and he smiles widely in return.

"So tell me mister most valuable player, are the offers flying in after today's little performance? Think you might make it straight to the pros?"

"I doubt it," he replies. "If any pro teams would actually want me it will be some place like Gemenon or Scorpia or some other bottom of the table team that's looking to inject a little youth into their systems."

"Not the Bucs?" She says with a grin.

"I wasn't going to say it in front of you," he laughs as he ducks a swipe from her pillow.

"Seriously, where do you think you're going to go?"

"You can be serious?"

"Come on Lee," she sighs, rolling her eyes.

"Picon," he answers quietly.

"I knew it! I swear to the gods I don't get your obsession with that rock, but I knew you were going to pick it. So what's your plan? Going to get big and strong at the university? Going to hope you get noticed by the Panthers or their b-team and one day get called up to the big boys?"

"Not exactly," he says turning his eyes away from her. "Today was my last game Kara. I'm done playing pyramid."

"What? Are you kidding? After today you can go anywhere! You can play anywhere! You're going to hang up your pads and give it up just like that?"

He takes a deep breath and works up the courage to tell her his plan. To tell her what's been on his mind the past few months and the life altering change he is about to make.

"I got my acceptance letter a few days ago," he says looking back to her. "For the academy."

Kara doesn't attempt to hide her shock.

"You're joining the fleet?" She asks incredulously. "After what it did to your family?"

"It's not about him," Lee replies. "I've actually wanted to fly since I was a little kid. Since I first laid eyes on my father's viper."

"You never told me that."

Lee smiles sadly at her. "We haven't told each other a lot of things."

She nods, knowing exactly what he means. The paintings she never mentioned. The fact that her father had been a musician. The reason why he left. The reasons why she made Lee say he loved her and then sent him away.

"This is about me," Lee continues. "This is about what I want." He looks her square in the eyes. "When you and I... When whatever we had ended I realized that I didn't want to play pyramid the rest of my life. That I didn't want a game to define who I am."

Silence.

Kara is unclear how to respond to his honesty. From the day they met she had always thought he was the one person who understood what the game meant to her, because his love for it matched her own.

"If I asked you why you ended it," Lee asks, derailing her train of thought. "Would you tell me?"

The question is like a sucker punch and her first instinct in anger. Her eyes narrow at him but he seems unfazed by it.

"Do tell me it's because you're a screw up," he says. "That's too easy. You don't do something like that just because."

She wants him to leave now. Her mind is screaming at her to say the most vile and heartbreaking things to send him running out of the room never to return.

"Is it because you think you're back luck?" He asks. "Is that why you wear thirteen? Is it because of your mother and whatever she did to you?"

Kara's eyes fill with tears as the anger threatens to bubble over. Lee squeezes her hand and his touch is as calming as it always has been, and she suddenly hates him for it. She has been told all her life that she is not worthy of such feelings. That she doesn't deserve to be happy.

"You got too close," she answers softly. "The way you look at me, the way you make me feel... I couldn't handle it."

Lee nods with understanding. A part of him had suspected as much. "Does my being here change any of that?"

"I don't know."

"I meant what I said."

"I know."

Silence again.

"Come with me," he says after a minute.

"What?"

"Come with me," he repeats.

"Are you out of your frakking mind Lee? I don't know anything about vipers or raptors or flying. And in case you haven't noticed I'm not exactly the poster child for military discipline."

"You seem to be able to follow the rules of pyramid with no problem."

"It's a game," she says. "It's a game that I love."

"I think you'll love flying," he counters. "Every viper pilot I've ever known has told me that flying is freedom. For someone who feels so trapped in her life, in this town, and on this planet. I like to think that this offer would be pretty tempting."

She doesn't reply, only stares at her leg.

"It will heal," he says and she nods in reply. "Truth is I'm not as confident about this decision as I seem. In fact I'm pretty scared."

She looks back to him.

"I know we haven't known each other that long. And I know that we don't really know each other as well as I thought. But what we have works Kara. We push and feed off of each other. Look at the season we had together, look at how many records we probably broke. I'm going to need that."

He gets up from the chair and moves to sit haphazardly on the bed next to her.

"I'm going to need you."

He puts his arms around her, and she grasps onto his forearm hugging him back. Smoothing back her hair, he kisses her forehead softly.

"Do you really think I'd be a good pilot?" She asks in a whisper.

Lee smiles down at her.

"You'd be the best."


End file.
